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18
Section II.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
Small Pox.—There were no cases of small-pox in Chelsea in 1909. In
London, during the year 1909, 23 cases of the disease were notified, as
compared with 4 in 1908, 9 in 1907, 31 in 1906, 74 in 1905, and 492 in
1904. Fourteen of the 23 cases occurring in 1909 were notified in the
last quarter of the year, and of this number 8 occurred in Stepney.
Scarlet Fever.—In 1909, 306 cases of Scarlet Fever were notified in
Chelsea, equivalent to a case-rate of 40.7 per 10,000 of the population, as
against 22.8 in 1908. The number of cases notified in the first quarter of
the year was 71, in the second quarter 132, in the third quarter 63, and in
the fourth quarter 40. Scarlet Fever began to be prevalent in March
(25 cases), increasing through April and May (32 cases in each month) to
June, when 68 cases were notified. In July (26 cases) prevalence
diminished, and in August only 13 cases were notified; but in September
there was some renewal of prevalence (29 cases), which, however, was
not continued during the three subsequent months.
The unusual prevalence of scarlet fever in March, April and May,
was largely due to incidence on children of school age, and during these
months the Duke of York's Royal Military School contributed no fewer
than 32 cases to the total of 85. By the middle of May the Duke of
York's School outbreak was over. There was also excessive prevalence of
the disease amongst children attending the Marlborough Road School
during the whole of June and the first half of July—15 cases being
notified in this period amongst children attending the school (chiefly in
the Infants' Department); whilst from the middle of June until the school
holidays in July, 9 cases occurred amongst children attending Holy
Trinity School.
The excessive prevalence of scarlet fever in June (68 cases) was,
therefore, in part due to incidence on school children, but 20 out of the
total of 68 cases were due to specific contamination of a particular milk
supply.
The total number of cases notified during the year was 171 in North
Chelsea, and 135 in South Chelsea. The percentage of cases of school
ages (3 to 13 years) of the total number in the Borough was 68, as
compared with 70 in 1908. The average duration of the stay in hospital
of 273 cases, of which the records are to hand, was 59.5 days, as against
61 in 1908.
Nineteen cases admitted to the M.A.B. hospitals were subsequently
certified by the Medical Superintendents of those institutions not to be
suffering from scarlet fever or any other notifiable disease. The average